People's Democracy

 THINKING TOGETHER

Differing assessments regarding the role of Stalin in the building of socialism in the USSR and its impact on the counter-revolution have been made by party leaders. What is the CPI(M)'s assessment of Stalin and his role?

---- R Veeraraghavan, Kovilpatti, Tamilnadu

THE CPI(M) has made a detailed assessment of the role of Stalin. This is contained in various resolutions adopted by the party since the Burdwan plenum on ideological issues, held in 1968. There are various party publications also on this matter. You are referred to a CPI(M) publication titled The Role of Stalin -- As the CPI(M) Sees It.

The Resolution on Certain Ideological Issues, adopted by the 14th party congress held at Madras in January 1992, states: "The CPI(M), since the Burdwan plenum in 1968, has repeatedly made clear its assessment of the positive and negative aspects of Stalin's leadership. While being severely critical of certain gross violations of inner-party democracy and socialist legality, the May 1990 CC resolution had stated: “The CPI(M) rejected the approach which, in the name of correcting the personality cult, is negating the history of socialism. The uncontestable contribution of Joseph Stalin in defence of Leninism, against Trotskyism and other ideological deviations, the building of socialism in the USSR, the victory over fascism and the reconstruction of the war-ravaged Soviet Union enabling it to acquire enough strength to check imperialist aggressive moves, are inerasable from the history of socialism”."

The same resolution has also committed the party for a further study of the experience of building socialism in the USSR in order to draw proper lessons. This task is yet to be completed. Till then, the above formulation contained in the party congress resolution remains the party's stand on the issue. 

Well known journalist Prabhash Joshi has called the Indian communists as neo-capitalists. What is one to mean by it?

--- Gopal, AKG Bhavan, New Delhi

IT is neither possible nor proper to understand this remark by Prabhash Joshi by taking it out of context of his comment. We have not so far seen any indication in his writings that the remark has any thought-out position behind it. He has of course his basic differences with the communists and remarks of this type do point to such differences. Evidently, the CPI(M) does not approve of this kind of understanding in any way. Yet, one must remember that he has been playing an active and remarkable role in today’s context, particularly in the struggle against the Sangh Parivar’s communalism. Joshi and we are together in this struggle. The remarks of the kind you have mentioned do show his anti-communist bias and we unambiguously reject them. However, it would be wrong to evaluate a person’s role on the basis of such bias and casual remarks. This evaluation has to be done on the basis of a person’s concrete role in the context of his or her time.